It’s surprisingly easy to step away from everyday life for a month. We went to the Philippines to visit family and friends. It was an memorable trip: helping cook meals for the typhoon refugees at Villamor, talking about plans with family, hanging out with friends, taking care of paperwork, attending a friend’s wedding, going on a 5-day road trip through Northern Luzon, getting lots of little IT things sorted out for my parents… It was wonderful being there for an extended period of time. It felt more like being home.